Australian shares end higher as Commonwealth Bank, miners gain

May 13 (Reuters) - Australian shares reversed course to close higher on Wednesday, as heavyweight Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s shares rose after news of the sale of its wealth management business and coronavirus provisions being broadly in line with peers.

The S&P/ASX 200 index ended the session 0.35% higher at 5,421.9, after having fallen as much as 2% earlier.

The country’s largest bank booked provisions of A$1.5 billion ($970 million) to cover pandemic-related loan losses and sold a 55% stake in its Colonial First State business for A$1.7 billion.

CBA’s three biggest rivals have already more than quadrupled their bad debt charges to a total of A$5 billion in their first half.

“The market has taken some encouragement out of Commonwealth Bank reporting decent results given the present headwinds,” Henry Jennings, senior analyst at Marcus Today Financial said, adding that the majority stake sale further boosted confidence and looked “a lot like a quasi-capital raise.”

The subindex of financial stocks gained, with CBA rising over 1%.

Jennings also said market sentiment recouped on hopes of a gradual reopening of the local economy and effective management of new virus clusters in the short term.

Data showed on Wednesday a measure of consumer sentiment jumped a record 16.4% in May from April, raising hopes of a relatively quick revival in spending.